I have for some weeks on this site and on air mocked the tactic used by Bloomberg’s extremist anti-gun “moms” group to attempt to legislate through fast food restaurants. Restaurants and retail have no business in policy, that work is done in state legislatures and city councils, but if you’re trying to win a war of perception and not merit, that’s the weak link you target. It’s exactly what Bloomberg is doing. Gun control has failed in an epic fashion nationally and it has cost Colorado dearly in recall elections. We are winning. So why on earth would any open carry group choose an establishment that has no ban on guns in place, a joint that just wants to make you your burrito and doesn’t care if you’re for or against open carry, would you like verde or ranchero sauce with that?

I’m an enthusiastic supporter of an unfettered Second Amendment, save for those who chose to lose via violent crimes or those deemed by a court of law as mentally incompetent (laws which already exist). I just choose to go about preserving it in a legislative fashion. While I also think that culturally there is a push to sensitize people to the simple sight of an open-carried firearm, it seems more effective to spend time spent pushing for reform in Austin at open carry hearings, not engaging in mild, quasi-affrighting. The NRA thought so to, and issued a statement regarding the Open Carry Texas group which has recently been at the center of a few headlines. The NRA concluded:

In summary, NRA certainly does not support bans on personalized guns or on carrying firearms in public, including in restaurants.  We think people are intelligent enough to resolve these issues in a reasonable way for themselves. But when people act without thinking, or without consideration for others – especially when it comes to firearms – they set the stage for further restrictions on our rights. Firearm owners face enough challenges these days; we don’t need to be victims of friendly fire.

Granted, open carry of handguns is banned in Texas, a state which misrepresents itself on Second Amendment freedoms (My home state has better gun laws, heck, Vermont, home of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, has better gun laws) which is why these folks are carrying rifles. What else are they supposed to open carry? I don’t want to alienate businesses who are already friendly to our cause. Again, we have already won this on logic and statistic. Why snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?

Maybe this group does regularly visit in Austin with lawmakers to push for open carry rights, I hope they do. That is where the real action and awareness is needed, not in a Chipotle.

*Flashback to Bloomberg’s $50m “moms” group carrying guns to parks to intimidate pro 2A moms.